


B is for Bones, Bots, Boxes, Bubble Wrap, and Babies

by NoSleepUntilVacation



Series: Papyton Week 2020 [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bubble Wrap, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Minor Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Pre-Relationship, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23038288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoSleepUntilVacation/pseuds/NoSleepUntilVacation
Summary: That moment when a famous celebrity and one of his biggest fans meet each other while helping their respective best friends move in together... but seriously, where are they gonna put that anime poster?!Written for day one of the inaugural Papyton Week, using the prompt "meeting".
Relationships: Mettaton/Papyrus (Undertale)
Series: Papyton Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655671
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37
Collections: Papyton Fics





	B is for Bones, Bots, Boxes, Bubble Wrap, and Babies

**Author's Note:**

> Oh yes, beauties and gentlebeauties, it is officially Papyton Week! My friend and I came up with this as a way of encouraging the production of more Papyton-centric content; if this goes well, we might do another one, so if you like what you see, don't forget to let us know!

The idea of meeting a favorite celebrity can often feel like a pipe dream; outside of rigidly-planned and scheduled events such as meet-and-greets and book signings, what are the odds of coming across a celebrity, especially in a position where they're open to meeting new people?

Perhaps the celebrity and the fan would happen to share the same plane on the way to some destination. Or maybe the fan would catch the celebrity after one of their shows. Or the fan is the grocery store clerk bagging the celebrity's purchases, the mechanic fixing their car, or the server bringing them their food.

Or maybe, just maybe, the celebrity's best friend and the fan's best friend happen to be a happy couple who recently decided to move in together, and the celebrity and the fan both decide to come over to help them get settled.

* * *

Alphys opened the front door and smiled upon seeing her friend. "Hi, Mettaton. Thanks for coming over!" She chuckled nervously and tapped her claws together. "Sorry it doesn't look like much right now..."

Indeed, the house currently looked more like a warehouse of cardboard boxes and assorted furniture pieces than any kind of place most people would live in. Even just a week from now, it would be crazy to think of how empty the house initially felt.

"Don't worry, darling; that's what I'm here for." Mettaton gave her a warm smile and walked inside. "So, where should we start?"

"I was about to start unpacking things in the kitchen, actually." Alphys began to lead Mettaton to the room in question. "Undyne's taking care of some of the big furniture right now, and our friend Papyrus came to help her."

"Oh..." Mettaton tried to quell the slight discomfort in his heart upon hearing the words _our friend_ come from her mouth; after all, just because Alphys had new friends now didn't mean she had no room for the old. Why would she have invited him to help, otherwise?

(And yet, he still couldn't help but think it a lucky break that, after everything he did, she still considered him a friend.)

With that settled, the two walked into the kitchen, where an already-unopened box of dishes rested on the floor. Mettaton and Alphys immediately went to work in unwrapping each plate, bowl, and glass from its cover of bubble wrap; they would then gently wipe each one down with a towel before putting it away in a specific cupboard according to Alphys' directions.

"I must say, this house is already starting to feel like a home," Mettaton said as he put a glass away.

Alphys looked up from unwrapping a plate. "Yeah... Undyne and I still have to get some more furniture, and we still have to think about building that shed, but we're off to a good start so far." The backyard was big enough that Alphys and Undyne had wanted to install a shed to serve as Alphys' new lab. They'd briefly considered using the garage at first, but having a car in the same place as various objects necessary for Alphys' research and/or Mettaton's maintenance was too risky.

For a few minutes, they continued on like this - unwrap, wipe, put away, repeat - until they'd made it to the bottom of the box. Only a few items remained, and bubble wrap littered the floor, some lightly stuck to it because of the tape. Before the two could finish off the box, however, they heard the sound of footsteps growing closer and closer.

As Undyne walked into the room, a tenor voice that Mettaton didn't recognize sounded from the hallway.

"Attention, Dr. Alphys!" The voice's owner slowly emerged from behind the walls. "Undyne and I have found a place for the piano - which still works, by the way - and _oh my god is that Mettaton???_ "

In that moment, Mettaton found himself greeted with the sight of a tall skeleton staring at him with a dropped jaw.

Undyne looked over at the skeleton and smirked. "Actually, I think that's a pile of bubble wrap."

"I know, but... who's that standing _in_ the bubble wrap? Aside from Dr. Alphys, of course."

Folding her arms, Undyne muttered what sounded like "oh, come on, I was gonna make that joke..."

With an awkward laugh, Alphys looked at Mettaton. "This is Papyrus. He's the one who's been taking me on those jogs."

"Oh, my..." Mettaton walked up to Papyrus, accidentally popping a couple of bubbles on the way, and crouched down a little to grin at him. "A fan of mine, I take it?"

"Y-yes..." Papyrus couldn't help a nervous giggle.

Mettaton let out a playful snicker of his own. "What, just a 'yes'? Not even an 'oh yes'?"

Papyrus yelped a bit. "Well!!! You see!!! I heard it was bad protocol!!! To steal other people's catchphrases!!!" He rubbed his hands over themselves repeatedly.

"It's all right, sweetheart. And I must say, you seem quite thoughtful."

"R-really?" Papyrus froze in his tracks.

"Oh, yes, absolutely." Mettaton gave him that winning smile. Already, he could see why the girls liked having Papyrus around.

And over the next couple of hours, he would begin to further understand.

* * *

Soon after this, the four headed to the living room to unpack some of the larger boxes. While Alphys and Undyne got to work setting up some of the electronics, Mettaton and Papyrus handled some of the more decorative items, placing them according to the girls' specifications.

At the bottom of the first box of decorations, they pulled out a large framed anime poster.

"Hmm..." Mettaton thought for a moment. As soon as the girls walked back in, he looked at them and waved. "Excuse me, darlings, where did you want us to put this poster?"

Before either of the girls could say anything, though, Papyrus raised his hand. "Oh! I know! How about putting it in the baby's room?"

Alphys let out a squeak that sounded halfway between embarrassed and confused.

Undyne, meanwhile, rolled her eye before walking up to Mettaton and Papyrus, muttering "give me that", and taking the poster. She walked out of the room, with Alphys following her.

"Er..." Mettaton blinked before turning towards Papyrus. "Baby's room, darling? I didn't even know they were planning such things."

"They aren't." Papyrus gave him a smirk. "Not yet, anyway. But if they ever do, I'll be the coolest uncle ever!"

"Oh, really? You realize that involves going up against _me,_ right?" Mettaton punctuated this with a pose.

"The Great Papyrus does not back down from challenges!" Papyrus did a pose of his own, his scarf fluttering through some kind of magic.

Mettaton grinned; a little friendly competition between himself and a fan couldn't hurt.

He wasn't sure how long it was before he got an idea, and started snickering.

"Nyeh? What is it, Mettaton?"

Papyrus had no time to question it further before Mettaton climbed into the box and started dropping some of the stray sheets of bubble wrap on top of himself. Once he was decently covered, he looked up at the perplexed Papyrus, grinning like a hyena.

"Behold, darling! The only safe way for me to take a bubble bath! Until I become waterproof, that is."

In just a second, Papyrus realized the joke and nearly fell on the floor in laughter. Something about that bright, happy "nyeh heh heh" made Mettaton feel a glow in his heart - and he too joined in the laughter.

(Indeed, in the future, Mettaton would look back on this moment - the first time he personally made Papyrus laugh - as one of his favorite memories of this day.)

The two were so caught up in the silliness of this moment that they didn't even hear the sound of footsteps; they certainly heard Undyne speaking up, though.

"Hey, what's so funny--"

The room fell silent as both duos stared at each other. Although Papyrus had mostly silenced his laughter, a few giggles still slipped through. Both Alphys and Undyne looked even more confused than ever. And Mettaton, of course, played the situation off as casually as if nothing was going on.

"Guess what, sweethearts? I found a way to take a bubble bath!" He tried so hard to hold back his own laughter as he leaned against the flap of the cardboard "tub". "Would either of you happen to have a rubber duck that I could borrow?"

The sight of Undyne tripping over her words, trying to think of a rebuttal... to Mettaton, that alone was worth her inevitable revenge.

Finally, Undyne gathered herself and took a deep breath. "I don't think so. But I do think we have a pool noodle in the other room. Excuse me for a second."

After she walked out, Mettaton pulled out his phone in a flash and began taking selfies. For he knew, as did Alphys and Papyrus, what was about to come.

And when Undyne ran back into the room, screaming her battle cry while clutching a pool noodle over her head in both hands, it was official - the Battle of the Bubble Wrap was beginning.

* * *

Several minutes of chaos passed before all parties involved declared a truce. As fun as it was to play around (who knew Papyrus was so good at dodge-pillow?) they still had boxes to unpack. Alphys and Undyne led the way, with Mettaton and Papyrus helping them find homes for their belongings.

Finally, once things were as organized as they were going to get for the time being, the four returned to the living room to take a breather before parting ways for the afternoon. Of course, with all of that bubble wrap around, it was only natural for them to eventually partake in a certain time-honored tradition - one that Sans, had he been there instead of at work, would have called " _pop_ -ular".

Snapping sounds filled the room as each of them worked at a small sheet. While his companions seemed to pop random bubbles, Papyrus had a different idea in mind; he had to work carefully, though, as he didn't know of any ways to unpop a bubble.

After a little while, Mettaton - still in the midst of playing with his own bubble wrap - heard Papyrus speak up.

"Would anyone like to see what I made?"

"Oh?" Mettaton looked up, as did the girls, at Papyrus, who proudly held up his sheet of bubble wrap.

"I know you may have to look closely," Papyrus said, "but I made my face!" Indeed, his design of popped bubbles resembled a skull upon close inspection.

Mettaton's eyes sparkled. "Ooh! An artist, are we?" He had an idea in that moment, and looked down at his own sheet; while this one was too far gone for what he now wanted to do, there was plenty more where that came from.

When Papyrus saw Mettaton grab a fresh sheet, he wondered what he had in mind - and a few minutes later, he had his answer when Mettaton showed him his own bubble wrap creation.

"Can you read this, darling?"

Papyrus tilted his head. "Maybe. I'm not entirely sure what... oh, wowie!" Once he noticed the pattern - the letters "MTT" - he giggled.

After all, how often is it that you get to have this kind of simple fun with your favorite celebrity, with the activity being your idea? On the first meeting, no less?

One thing was for sure - Papyrus would always treasure this day in his heart.

* * *

And so would Mettaton.

"Goodbye, Papyrus..." he said with a bittersweet tone as he watched Papyrus leave. If he had one wish at this moment, it would have been for this goodbye to have a definite "for now" attached. Celebrity life could be so chaotic, but he could always hope.

He stood there for a short while before he heard his best friend's voice.

"Mettaton?"

"Yes, Alphys?"

"If... if you don't mind, and if Undyne doesn't mind..." She smiled, even as she tapped her claws together and trembled slightly. "I think the four of us should hang out together again sometime."

Mettaton thought back on the events of the day - the moment he met Papyrus, the dispute over the anime poster, the Battle of the Bubble Wrap, and his and Papyrus' little art projects - and smiled. If all of that could happen on their first meeting, who could predict what the future would hold?

"Alphys, darling..." He walked over and pulled her into a big hug. "You have the most brilliant ideas."

* * *

Papyrus and Mettaton each kept their respective pieces of bubble wrap artwork as a souvenir of this day. They held them in their respective closets for a while - and, when years had passed and it was their turn to move in together, the sheets found a new home in their shared closet.

Of all the ways to meet someone new, neither Papyrus nor Mettaton considered this the worst by a long shot.

**Author's Note:**

> My blog: https://nosleepuntilvacation.tumblr.com/
> 
> About Papyton Week: https://papytonweek.tumblr.com/


End file.
